The original Pilsen Mural located at 1831 S. Racine Ave was completed in 1970 by artist Ray Patlan and neighborhood youth from the Casa Aztlan Community Center. It showed Mexican cultural icons such as Rudy Lozano, Frida Kahlo and others. It was an important part of Chicago’s Chicano Movement and meant a lot to the Mexican community, because it depicted their history.
In 2013 the Casa Aztlan Community Center was closed, leaving the building that contained the mural empty. Then in June 2017 the new owner/developer of the building had the mural painted over with gray paint. This sparked outrage from the Mexican-American community in Chicago. The good news is – the developer listened to the community and had the mural repainted by the original artist and a couple additional artists. They listened to the community about who they wanted to be shown on the mural.
The local heroes depicted on the new mural are: Guadalupe Reyes, founder of the El Valor children’s center; Carlos Cortez, artist and poet; Rudy Lozano, labor organizer; Maria Saucedo, community organizer; Isaura Gonzalez, activist teacher; and Hector Gamboa, activist and former director of Casa Aztlan.The mural was completed in December 2017.
That’s very cool. Thanks for sharing. I think the Chicago Public Library should photograph the murals and do an exhibition at the Harold Washington Cultural Center. I believe lots of people would enjoy learning about different cultural icons. I would also like to see the mural artist.
Thanks Suzette. I would love to see an exhibit of cultural murals at the Harold Washington Cultural Center! It’s a great idea. In the future I’ll try to include a photo of the artist.